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Buckle Up!

Wall Street takes a shine to the retailer's strong results.

For youth-oriented clothing retailers, the business is about as crowded as a System of a Down mosh pit. Hot Topic(NASDAQ:HOTT), Pacific Sunwear(NASDAQ:PSUN), and Urban Outfitters(NASDAQ:URBN) are just a few of the many companies headbanging their way through the crowd. The Buckle(NYSE:BKE) has successfully carved out its own little niche with its fresh jeanswear.

Buckle stock's upward climb over the last year continues, thanks to more strong results from the company. For its first quarter, revenues increased 11.4% to $105.5 million from the same period a year ago. Comparable same-store sales grew at a healthy 6.4%.

Buckle also improved both its gross and operating margins. Gross margins increased by 8.4 percentage points to 35%. The company's operating margins improved to 11.6%, compared to 8.9% from a year ago.

As a result, Buckle's earnings jumped 45.8% to $8.6 million. Over the past year, the company decreased its outstanding share count by 3.2%. With fewer shares, Buckle's earnings per share (EPS) grew 48% to $0.40.

At $39, Buckle's stock trades at a current-year P/E ratio around 15. When you consider its strong revenue and earnings growth and its healthier margins, the company appears to be reasonably valued. For potential investors looking to jump into this mosh frenzy, any weakness in this stock may be a signal to Buckle up.